Advancing mycotoxin detection in food and feed: novel insights from surface-enhanced Ramanspectroscopy (SERS)
This contribution evaluates recent advances in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)for mycotoxin detection and considers the technology’s relevance for strengthening food safety risk analysis in the context of climate-driven and sustainability-focused transitions.
The review highlights progress in SERS substrate engineering and molecular recognition strategies that enable sensitive and rapid detection. At the same time, it identifies persistent gaps, including limited validation in naturally contaminated matrices, challenges in reproducibility, and insufficient alignment with regulatory thresholds and real-world monitoring needs, despite reported sensitivities often exceeding regulatory requirements in matrix-free studies.
The findings indicate that SERS can contribute to early warning and emerging risk identification systems when supported by standardized assay design, validation against regulatory limits in real matrices, and integration with portable platforms and data-driven decision-support tools, including chemometric and machine learning-based data analysis approaches.
By supporting targeted and non-targeted detection of existing and emerging hazards and enabling integration into holistic risk assessment and data-sharing frameworks, this work contributes to safer and more sustainable food systems aligned with European policy priorities and relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It also highlights the need to prioritise feasibility, stability, and portability to advance the real-world deployment of SERS-based technologies and improve the on-site detection of chemical contaminants within the food chain.
Future-Proofing Food: Transforming Risk Analysis for a better and more adaptive food system
Ongoing | 2022-2026
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Austria, France, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria, United Kingdom